Hey, I was wondering if anybody has ever tried using ground up charcoal for a coal load in their coal cars?? Does it look good? What I was thinking about doing was using a mortar and pestle and grinding up some charcoal into small pieces, then using a spoon, dip it into my coal cars. So, has anybody else ever did this for coal loads??
I’ve used the charcoal granules out of used Brita water filters for coal loads, and it looks perfect for HO scale coal. I cut a piece of sheet balsa that fits snugly down into the top of the hopper, pour the charcoal granules on top into the desired shape, spray with rubbing alcohol, dribble on 50/50 white glue mix, and let it dry for a couple of days.
There are some light colored granules within the filter material, but a little water-based flat black paint gets rid of them after the glue has dried…
Thank you “cacole” for your reply. That is a very good idea that you have. I’ll have to try that.
Once again, thank you very much.
I was going to suggest the granulated charcoal for aquarium filters. Get it at any pet supply place.
Take note…it comes in a couple of different sizes.
Rotor
Make sure you wash it well first to get rid of dust. I am going to try this for loads as well. I have 40 or 50 packets of fairly fine charcoal that I did not use in an aquarium filter laying around.
After using a material like this to simulate a “real” load, don’t forget to re-weigh your cars to get back to the scale weight. You may have to remove some of the weights you originally applied to make the ‘empty’ car in the proper weight range. I think loads like this a really cool. True modeling!
I used crushed charcoal for loads in some of my coal cars, see them at my website on the freight car page. Judge for yourself.
I haven’t used the charcoal yet, but have made some gravel loads using ballast. Rather than fill the car full, I take a piece of cardstock, cut to size to fit the car, then glue the ballast on top of the cardstock. You’ll use a lot less material that way, and it’s easily removeable if you want an empty car again.
Rotor
Might work. I would be concerned w/ a possible dust problem. I don’t think the wieght would be a problem as it only becomes a problem w/ cars that are too light. I have an old Roundhouse Zamac 50 ton hopper that fits in just fine w/ my 3 1/2 oz. min car fleet.
This sounds like another one of those occasions when the real thing doesn’t look real. In HO scale water doesn’t look like water. And coal doesn’t look like coal: it always looks too shiny to me. Charcoal sounds like it would be just right
I’ve got real coal in my loads, and it looks good to me.
If you’re worried about any possible shine, you could always dust it with Dulcoat.
Mark in Utah
i will also be using real coal on my coal cars since i found it by the track all the time.
I also like using walthers coal loads.
Thanks for the info. and replys everybody. I appreciate it.
A friend of mine uses real coal. I operate his staging yard and I load or unload his unit coal train depending on whether it is on the east or west end of his Galesburg to Peoria layout. He stores the crushed coal in a coffee can
BE AWARE that it creates tons of coal dust and I need a wash cloth to keep my hands clean. Don’t wear light colored trousers either.
At my suggestion my friend experimented with taking foam rubber (as in seat cushions or pillows or sometimes used as packing material, cutting it to coal gon size and painting it black. When tucked into the cars it is amazing realistic coal load and is light as a feather, does not spill or cause any other mess. A simple pick makes it easy to remove. I do not think he will return to the real coal loads any time soon.
Dave Nelson
Are you using the right coal? Anthracite (hard coal from NE Pennsylvania) is actually shiny. The aquarium charcoal is a good representation of normal soft coal from everywhere else. But depending on the brand, can be very dusty.
Nick Brodar
I am using charcoal from a water filter. Anybody with well water knows what I am talking about. 5-6" in diameter and 8-10" long filled with charcoal already ground into little chunks. Enough for 20-30 hoppers when filling them all the way. They cost about $16.00 new but people throw them away when used.
I still use real coal, glued onto plastic card formers. it is then painted black and coal dust sprinkled on while the paint is still wet I also hide a magnet in amongst the coal to aid removal of the load
Jon
I used to use a piece of cardboard with real coal or scale coal glued on top, but the post about foam rubber on here got me to change. I cut it to rough shape, paint it black, and then glue a light coat of coal on top. Is light, sticks in the cars well, and you use very little coal just to coat that foam, and minimal spillage.